


there's a reason (you're by my side)

by perfect_little_fool



Series: the long road [2]
Category: The West Wing
Genre: Episode: s04e03 College Kids, F/M, Fingering, Jealousy, Light Angst, Miscommunication, Pining, Sex, Smut, episode rewrite, relationship building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:14:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25495909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perfect_little_fool/pseuds/perfect_little_fool
Summary: “Everybody’s really over that now,” he reminds her, one eyebrow casually bouncing up to punctuate his point. She stops, meeting his challenging gaze.“Guess it’s just a little…” she muses, leaning in close to his ear, “hardfor me to be over it.” He chokes a bit on the sip of coffee he’s taking, his nostrils flaring. “Just yet.” She turns on her heel to head back to her desk. Before he can storm after her, CJ is cutting in.“Admiral Scott, your expedition’s returned!” the Press Secretary hollers.(or, what comes after Josh and Donna return from being left by the motorcade)
Relationships: Josh Lyman/Donna Moss
Series: the long road [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1833961
Comments: 12
Kudos: 99





	there's a reason (you're by my side)

**Author's Note:**

> fic song used for title and throughout: "There's a Reason" by Wet
> 
> hello all! wasn't sure if a sequel would come out of me for this, but it did. This is literally just a continuation of "stuck with nowhere to go" and you can also look at this as a rewrite of 4x03 but through the lens of how I rewrote the episodes preceding it. does that make sense? also this is another classic case of me being like "oh I'm gonna write 3k words" and it turned into more because I have no self control.
> 
> the only liberty with canon I took was changing the location of the event they go to. I think in the episode it's in Massachusetts, but for the purposes of my fic I changed it to a bar in D.C. PLUS I make some decisions about Amy's character that may not be entirely true? ya win some ya lose some.
> 
> anyway, it also finally has what everyone was looking for in part 1. take that as you will

_through unrest and stillness  
wasn’t I your witness?_

-

Donna doesn’t know what she expected after Indiana, but it certainly isn’t what she got.

Upon returning to D.C., they went their separate ways at the White House: her back to the bullpen to check on unanswered emails and phone calls, him to Leo. She went home early that night while he stayed late, deciding he’d rather get caught up on work and argue with a Congressman over the phone then catch up on the sleep they lost from their twenty hour-long adventure. 

Once again, she doesn’t know why she would expect anything different. 

She also isn’t going to admit that she still waited a little longer than she should have for a phone call. Why she would hope for a late-night ring from Josh is beyond her since he never calls when she expects him to. 

Seriously. Her expectations are without a doubt much too high for this.

So, waking up the following morning, (the first morning not shadowed by their Midwest excursion) she decides she’ll wait to see what punches roll her way. If Josh doesn’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. Donna will allow the space he needs. He said they would do what’s hard. Maybe talking for him is hard. Which—she immediately goes back on that line of thinking because, let’s be honest, talking is not hard for Joshua Lyman. But, maybe, just maybe, this is what’s hard for him. Either way, she can’t expect anything. 

She assumes when arriving at work that he’s already there. After signing in she decides to take the longer route to the bullpen, bypass Toby and Sam’s offices, figure out how she’s going to get through today without thinking about the night in the hotel room. 

Just her luck that that’s where Josh is exiting as well, because of course he is. He’s never where she expects him to be. 

Donna will make the best of it. She always does. 

“Hello,” she announces, walking down the hall toward him. 

His head turns at her greeting, his gaze at once making an almost unnoticeable swipe down her figure. Her heart squeezes and a smile brightens her lips. At least she can make him stop in his tracks.

“Hey,” he responds, letting his eyes return to hers in a more professional way. 

“Did you sleep alright?” she asks as she comes to a stop in front of him, noticing the energy buzzing about him. He’s grasping a paper in his hand, that old faithful frenzied, passionate expression hardening his face.

“I did, but then I read this thing…” he starts then stops as quickly, breath cutting short. They take each other in for another moment, his hand almost poised open, out to her. She wants to grab it but refrains. “How you doing?” he instead asks, softer.

“Good,” she gives. If she isn’t mistaken, she feels his body sway forward as if to kiss her, but thinks better of it. 

“What’s on for tonight?” Josh asks as they turn in unison to head toward their desks. 

“You’ll have a meeting with the state party chair and you’ll say energizing things to the staff,” Donna relays. Her eyes trail down his body this time, eyebrow quirking at the shoulders and knees of his attire.

“Are we in any danger of losing Massachusetts?” 

“No,” Donna answers as honestly as she thinks she can. They enter the bullpen and her lips quirk a little smile. “But you’re in danger of drowning in that suit.”

She hears his footsteps come to an abrupt stop as she rounds toward her desk, unloading the bags in her arms onto the top of it. It isn’t until she’s deposited all her belongings in their respectable areas that Josh finally sputters: “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Do you really want to campaign for the President in that suit?”

He glances down at it, then back at her, where she’s now flipping through documents on her desk. “Well my good one is at the cleaners and I was supposed to pick it up last night but stayed here instead.”

She pauses and waits for him to say it. When he doesn’t, she releases a small exhale. “Do you need me to go pick it up?” 

“Could you?”

Donna closes her eyes for one brief second. Why, oh why, she expected any different, is a goddamn mystery. “Yeah, I’ll go grab it during lunch. You’ll have it before tonight.”

“Will you be there?”

Her gaze moves up at this, settling on his uncertain figure near her desk. His hands are deep in his pockets and his head is ducked down a little. She swallows, grabs a few sheets of paper, and moves to walk around him. “I was planning on it.”

Josh is hot on her heels as she walks to the copier, where he busies himself across from her making a cup of coffee. “Good,” is all he says in response to her affirmation of attending. The cut of his jaw distracts her for a moment as he sips at the drink he finished preparing, his eyes roaming over the paper he’s still clutching. She gulps a second time. 

“The motorcade,” she’s suddenly saying, indicating the scene behind them of CJ and the President returning. “We’re here!” Donna yells, bouncing a bit on her heels and waving her arms in the air to grab their attention. CJ glances her way. 

“Would you stop?” Josh grumbles.

“We’re heeeere!” she jokes again, grinning at the crinkle of her boss’ brow.

“Everybody’s really over that now,” he reminds her, one eyebrow casually bouncing up to punctuate his point. She stops her sarcastic flailing, meeting his challenging gaze. She grabs at her copies the machine just finished spitting out, tucking them in the crook of her arm. She rounds toward him. 

“Guess it’s just a little…” she muses, leaning in close to his ear, “ _hard_ for me to be over it.” He chokes a bit on the sip of coffee he’s taking, his nostrils flaring. “Just yet.” She brushes past him to return to her desk. Before he can storm after her, Donna hears CJ cut in. 

“Admiral Scott, your expedition’s returned!” the Press Secretary hollers.

Donna falls into her chair, grabbing the phone to give herself something to do. Voicemails. Emails. Those are easy, every day routine. Also something to keep her mind from wandering to Josh’s hands gripping the coffee cup tighter as her breath had met his neck just now. Something to keep her from thinking about how they once grabbed her hips, pressed marks into her flexors there. 

She rolls her head around on her neck.

Expectations? Out the window.

-

_now there’s a difference  
a distance between us_

-

Josh’s muscles tense to bolt after his assistant, can already feel the ghost of his grip grabbing hold of her arm to twirl her into the heat of his body, but CJ’s voice is pulling him away from that fantasy. His jaw clenches as he turns to meet his friend’s approaching stare.

“Alright,” he mutters, throwing on a wayward smirk.

“Let me take a look at you, Don Quixote De la Mancha,” CJ snarks, smiling wide. It’s not her best quip, but she clearly humors herself all the same.

“Don Quixote wasn’t an explorer,” Josh exasperates, taking a step backward to indicate he has work to do. Or, at least, he has a pretty blonde to stare at all day. Pick your poison.

“No,” CJ replies, “but he rode around on a horse. You sleep?”

Josh cracks his neck to the side, sniffing. The answer he gives isn’t what he expected to say, but it leaves his mouth before he can stop it. “I did better than that.”

The Press Secretary’s eyebrows rise slightly, her mouth curling. There wasn’t supposed to be an innuendo buried in his words, yet she caught on whether he liked it or not. He sucks at his teeth then sips more of his coffee to draw attention away from his ticks. 

“Keep it to yourself,” she finally says idly, turning toward her own office. Then to add insult to injury, asks, “Donna doing okay as well?”

“You have two legs,” Josh bites back. “You could walk over and ask her.”

CJ leans back from where she’s half inside her doorway, eyebrows now fully ascended to what feels like the top of her forehead. The Deputy Chief of Staff struggles to maintain eye contact with her, but manages. 

“Barnum and Bailey have fun on the circus route?” CJ questions, cocking her head to the side and smiling wider than she has yet to in this go-around. Josh purses his lips, the paper in his fist crinkling as he flexes his fingers. “I’m kidding, Josh. I’ll stop by and say hi to Donna when I can. Don’t get your proverbial panties in a twist.” Then she disappears into her office, Carol running in after her. 

He lingers for a moment before accepting defeat and turns to head back in his own direction. His mouth is open to say something upon coming toward Donna’s desk, but then notices she’s in the middle of a phone call. He lets his lips press together and strides by, remains of the coffee in his cup sloshing as his fingers shake.

This is the part where he chokes. Where he gets caught up, uncertain. Banter and toeing the edge has always come so naturally for them. Now that they’ve taken a leap past the boundary they originally set, what does she expect from him? What should he expect from her? He recalls how he promised that they’d do what’s hard, that they’d do it together. But it feels like he’s leaving her to dangle. He could see it in how she looked at him when they said hello this morning. He’s not sure how to pull her back up to where he is right now—he’s not sure about anything.

Josh leans against the doorway of his office, sipping once more as he levels his gaze at the back of Donna’s head. All he has to do is talk to her. Which should be easy. He talks all the time. Right?

He clears his throat and squares his shoulders as she hangs up the phone. He stumbles over words in his head, trying to grasp the right ones to say. 

“Josh.”

He deflates, head dropping to look to his left where the voice came from. Toby saunters up to him. “I want to bring up our idea to Sam,” the Communications Director relays. “I think he can fill in a couple holes for us.”

Without trying to seem too suspicious, Josh sneaks one more look at Donna, her side profile in his view. He memorizes the curve of her mouth, the slope of her nose, just to hold it with him, before breathing out and nodding his head. “Lead the way,” he tells Toby before exiting the bullpen.

-

_i call your name  
but you can’t hear me_

-

By the time she’s set to go out and grab Josh’s suit, she’s only seen him twice since the morning. Something unpredictable happened with a federal judge and he was pulled into the Roosevelt Room for a bulk of the first part of their day, looking crestfallen and tired. First he bypassed her into his office to grab something, the air feeling empty without his usual bellowing of her name. Then she snuck into the closed-door meeting quietly to deliver something for him to sign, where he barely made eye contact with her, before she was slipping out.

Not for the first time her thoughts trail into remembering how he put his arm around her on the train, let her tuck her head into his shoulder, squeezed his fingers as they found solace on her waist. The flashes of images from their time spent coming home together is going to start giving her a headache if she’s not careful.

The suit is thrown over Donna’s shoulder as she walks back into the bullpen, a sandwich from the deli down the street in hand too. The phone on her desk is ringing but she’s elected to ignore it already—she has ten minutes left on her lunch, damnit.

“Josh?” she calls, setting her sandwich and purse down.

When there’s no answer, she walks over to his open office door, peering in. There’s a chance he’s down at the mess, gobbling down whatever food he can get his hands on, and she’s just missed him. She hangs the suit bag on the hook secured to his door, tucking the receipt in the pocket of it. Then she spins to leave when her figure jolts into another.

Josh grabs hold of her wrists that instinctually come up to shield herself from their collision, her eyes squeezing shut as she expects to smack into something. When she doesn’t, his fingers tense ever so slightly over her pulse points, and she opens her eyes to look up at him. 

“You okay?” he asks gently, eyes scanning over her face.

She nods. “Yeah.”

There’s a pause, a beat of heady silence, before he realizes he’s still gripping her unnecessarily. He clears his throat and slides his hands off her wrists, a bit too slowly. Donna swallows and breaks eye contact.

“Here’s your suit,” she murmurs, gesturing to the hanger on his door. 

His gaze is still cutting into the side of her face, jaw working overtime as he clenches and unclenches it. Although today is the first day in a long while that Donna can’t anticipate what her boss is going to say or do, she can at least predict that he _wants_ to say something to her. She can hear the gears grinding in his head. She isn’t sure whether to feel satisfaction at the fact that she’s rendered him speechless since their night in Indiana or if she should let the loss of their easy relationship swallow her whole. The idea of change isn’t easy for her to accept right now. 

Even with having spent such a pivotal day together, a layered day for that matter, Josh is still Josh. And she’s still just Donna to him. Her stomach turns over.

“Did you…” he starts, glancing down at the floor. “Did you get the shirt I left for you on your desk?”

“I didn’t. But thank you.”

He nods. Then looks off to the left, which in his line of sight means he makes eye contact with the doorjamb. He stuffs his hands in his pockets. 

Donna’s stomach rolls unpleasantly. “Did you eat lunch?”

“Yeah, Sam had Ginger go grab us some pasta from Tony’s.”

There’s no explanation for why she feels this way all of a sudden—has this dark, nasty creature clawing at her insides. She’s never felt so separate from him, so unsure. For all intents and purposes Josh is her best friend. Not once has she doubted that. Now, it’s as if the ground beneath her feet is slowly falling away. And she’s desperately trying to outrun a freefall.

The loss of ease with him tastes sour in her mouth. She takes a step to leave the area of his office, sliding past without letting any part of them touch. “Let me know if you need anything.”

On her desk, underneath her deli sandwich, is the shirt Josh mentioned. Gray with black lettering and a giant red checkmark: _Rock the Vote_. 

Her day never ends.

-

_now something’s changed  
your back is to me_

-

The rest of Josh’s day goes by in a blur. He and Donna didn’t really talk much after bumping into one another, her offhandedness hitting him square in the chest. The question of if she’s avoiding him is stuck in his head, repeated over and over like an annoying song, but he doesn’t want to obsess over it.

They said this would be hard. This is the hard part. The figuring it out. It’s hard.

He had the invitation to share a cab tonight on the end of his tongue. The bar where the _Rock the Vote_ event is being held is just ten minutes from Josh’s apartment, but the idea of swinging by to pick up Donna was more than appealing. However, he let her walk out of work with a swift goodbye to his open office door instead, unable to muster up the courage to ask. 

Now, he’s sitting in a blue-lit venue across from a somber looking Toby, talking about a newfound political strategy while drinking a lukewarm beer. A hand rubs down his face, hoping when he opens his eyes he’ll be back in a hotel room somewhere in Indiana.

“Sam said he doesn’t know if it’s possible,” Josh’s friend is saying, picking apart a bar peanut haphazardly.

“Anything is possible if you just believe,” Josh replies, managing his trademark smirk as he leans back in his chair. “It’s fine. Sam will come around. I wanna bring this to Leo tomorrow.”

“I’m not sure we should loop Leo in yet…”

Josh doesn’t mean to tune Toby out, but it’s hard not to upon seeing a certain woman gently pushing through the crowd on the floor. He picks up his beer and takes a quick swig, straying his eyes back to his coworker. “Hold that thought,” he says, pushing his chair back as he stands. “I gotta go take care of something.”

He strides away before Toby can protest, dodging a waiter coming through with a tray full of empties. Amy has already stopped somewhere in the middle of the swarm of people, hands tucked into the pockets of her lowrise jeans, watching the stage with her cunning, calculating eyes. 

As if she can sense him coming to a halt beside her, she turns her head with a wide smile. “Hey.”

“What are you doing here?” Josh asks, not unkindly, mostly uncertain. Last he heard she was working her way through a few activist groups, managing to get a few policies on a few committees’ agendas. Always sliding herself in, always non-stop.

“I do some work for these guys,” Amy answers, slightly teasing. Her _Rock the Vote_ tee shirt has been cut and twisted into a tank top, riding a bit high above the waistband of her jeans. Josh doesn’t bother to look at the skin showing. 

“It’s a great event,” Josh nods, smiling warmly. He’s not sure, entirely, why he felt the need to approach Amy. There’s an inkling he has that it may be because she’s been a loose end for a couple years now, not tied off prettily like the two of them probably deserved in regards to their relationship. 

A knife twists in his gut. The last thing he wants is for his relationship with Donna to warp into what it is with Amy—distant, flirty strangers who have no full connection. His mouth is getting dry.

“Yeah,” she affirms, looking off toward the stage. Briefly, she eyes his figure. “You look good.”

He should feel taken aback, but isn’t. “Yeah?”

“No,” Amy grins, teasing once again. As always. “You look tired.”

Josh gives a faint chuckle at that. He does a once-over look of the venue, spotting Toby still at the table he had just abandoned. CJ at side stage. Sam talking to a lobbyist near the restrooms. “You look good,” Josh tells her, not lying. Amy is a fascinating beauty, more sharp than soft. He always appreciated how she presented herself when they were dating. 

As the words leave his mouth, his eyes pass over the bar across the way. A head of blonde hair catches his eyes, and his shoulders straighten noticing it’s Donna sitting on a stool, purse slung over the back. She’s wearing the shirt he’d left for her on her desk. 

“Yes, I know,” Amy is saying in response to his compliment, another toothy smile on her face. Josh looks back at her.

“‘Kay,” he murmurs, not sure how to take that.

“Hey did you—I heard you got left behind by the motorcade,” she remarks, cocking a hip out. His eyes flit to Donna again, eyes widening upon seeing her talking to someone. Not just someone. A man. Another man. His jaw clenches without his permission. 

“Yeah,” he’s answering, unsure how his brain connected to his mouth so quickly when his vision is creeping red. “It took us twenty hours to get out of Indiana.” He doesn’t clarify the _we_ , unsure if Amy knows it was just Donna he had been stranded with. His gaze does flick to the bar again, however.

Amy squints, turns, and follows where he’s fixating on. At what she sees, she releases a small snort, nothing more than a puff of air. 

“I heard it was just you and her,” his ex ponders, angling her face back toward his. “Glad to see you both came out unscathed.”

Josh isn’t sure if there’s supposed to be a double entendre hidden there, and doesn’t care to linger on it. The man Donna is talking with now has his hand poised on the back of her chair, dangerously close to her back. His fist curls once, tight, before he releases it, exhaling at the same time. 

“Maybe I spoke too soon,” Amy laughs, swiping her hair off her shoulder. “And maybe _you_ should go talk to your assistant.”

“We’ve, uh, we’ve talked.”

Her eyebrows rise, just as the man at the bar grazes the back of his hand against Donna’s shoulder. Josh’s throat closes. “Have you?” Amy questions, arms crossing over her chest. “Judging by that pent-up tension in your neck I’d be obliged to point out that I don’t think you have.”

He grinds his teeth together. “If you see Toby tell him something came up.”

“You got it.”

Josh brushes by Amy, who’s smiling so coyly she might as well be the Cheshire Cat, feeling like he’s on a mad-dash to win Donna’s hand as he bounds toward her at the bar. By the time he’s squeezed his way closer to her seat, the man she’s been chatting to has his face mere inches from hers. Heat coils in his stomach. 

The Deputy Chief of Staff saddles up to the opposite side of his assistant, fitting his own palm against the back of her chair while leaning against the bar. He slights his head to the side and smiles in what he hopes is a sardonic way right at the man. “Hi,” he announces, Donna’s head turning quickly to look up at him. “I’m Josh Lyman.” He puts out his other hand toward the guy, palm up and confident. “You are?”

The guy gives off a surprised chuckle. “Uh, hi. My name’s Todd.” _Todd_ returns to him an uncertain shake, giving Josh even more of an ego-boost at his limp grip, before looking back at Donna—whose cheeks have tinted a nice rosy pink. “Do you two know each other?”

Josh cuts in before she can. “Yeah, you could say that.”

At his words, he sees her cut him a sharp look out of his peripherals. He shoulders it for later. Todd nods. “Sorry. I see.” He grabs his drink and tips it toward Donna in a half-salute. “Nice talking with you. Have a nice night.” 

As Todd disappears into the crowd, Donna turns on her barstool to fully glare up at her boss. “What the fuck was that performance about?” she asks, tone hot enough it could melt glass. 

Josh exhales fast, returning her gaze. “I didn’t realize you were here yet.”

Her brows rise. “What a satisfactory answer to my question.”

“How did you get here?” he’s asking instead, eyes taking in her face like he hasn’t seen it in days. He’s kicking himself for not having drunk all of her in while at work today. He kept her at arm’s length without really meaning to and it clearly backfired on both of them. Suddenly, he’s frantic.

“Cab,” Donna answers automatically. Then she’s shaking her head. “That’s besides the point—are you going to explain what the hell that was all about?”

Josh reaches around her to slide the strap of her purse off the chair, his other hand reaching over to grab her beer. He suckles the rest of it down, her eyes going wide at the move. “Josh, what the fu—”

He bends down before she can finish the sentence, her mouth sucking in air. “I want to get out of here,” he murmurs near her ear, no part of them making contact except for her hair tickling his cheek. “How _hard_ is that for you to understand?”

When he pulls back a bit to see her face, her mouth has gone soft, lips parted and eyes warm. He grins. Donna takes a glance around the venue, of the band still playing and Toby off in the far corner, before looking back at him. “Okay,” she breathes, her hands fluttering. 

Josh grabs hold of one easily and tugs her off the stool, a pathway to the exit practically clearing for them as if by fate.

-

_up against the wall  
how did I fall so hard again?_

-

Donna doesn’t know how to handle the tension Josh is giving off, doesn’t know how to calm the bouncing knee next to her in the cab as they drive to his apartment. Honestly, she’s still reeling from the sight of him appearing out of nowhere at the bar, practically staking some pre-existing claim over her in front of Todd. Who, by the way, had only been talking to her about the band playing, not making any moves on her at all. She thinks.

Either way, she’s never seen him like this before. Bubbling with energy that’s threatening to spill over, fingers gripping hers whenever they can, sharing heated looks with her in the backseat. It’s confusing and different. Not to mention a complete one-eighty from how he had been interacting with her this morning.

The drive is only ten minutes long, but to Donna it feels like an hour. A swallow got stuck somewhere in her throat after Josh had introduced himself to Todd, and she’s been trying to stomach it without any success since. 

Once the cab has pulled up to Josh’s place, he’s out of the car faster than she can catch her breath. She follows suit, finding him waiting for her right outside her door, reaching out to grab her hand. He’s buzzing, eyes dilated and jaw clenching and unclenching—a different kind of anticipatory than when they were in Indiana together. 

They’re wordless as they ascend the steps to his building. Barely breathing as they enter the elevator, his palm hot on hers. Not exchanging anything still as they walk the hall to his door. 

He manages to unlock his apartment with one hand, kicking open the door after he does so and pulling her in so fast she stumbles a bit.

When they’re in the safety of his space, he reaches over her shoulder to push the door closed, crowds her up against it, and slides his lips over hers. The gasp she releases into his mouth is swallowed as his tongue licks at the seam of her, one hand coming up to push her purse off her shoulder. She allows it, her now free arms ascending to wrap around his neck. Her back digs into the wood of his door, his hips pushing her into it as he fuses their bodies together.

“God, Donna,” he moans on a timbre, teeth nipping at her bottom lip. “I missed you.”

She breathes against him as his hands cup at her waist, her _Rock the Vote_ shirt riding up on her ribcage now. “I was with you all day,” she replies haughtily as his lips press over her cheek then hook at her jaw.

“Not like this,” Josh mutters back, thumb grabbing hold of one hip bone and squeezing. 

Her head tosses back to rest against the door as his mouth peppers over her neck, his tongue licking at the line of her collarbone when he meets it. She can feel his motions deep in her core, thighs pressing together as he pulls her tighter to him.

“You never—” she pauses as one of his hands slides up dangerously close to her chest, fingers toying at the edge of her bra. “You never explained to me why you acted the way you did to Todd.”

Josh growls, head moving back up to press a kiss fast into her, a whine coming from her throat before she can stop it. “Do I really need to explain why I didn’t like the sight of some man talking you up at a bar?” he exasperates against her, hand that’s not at her bra drifting down to grab at her ass.

Donna can’t help but roll her eyes. “We were talking about how we both liked the band that was playing. Come on—”

“Oh please, Donna. His eyes were all over you.”

“You didn’t see me cutting into your conversation with Amy,” she bites back, fingers digging into the hair at his scalp. He peers down at her at that, breathing heavy. His lips are tinged red from kissing. 

“We were just talking,” Josh tells her.

“I rest my case then.”

He smirks slightly, moving back down to press a gentler kiss to her lips. “You drove me crazy all day,” he relays, walking backward, causing her to follow after him as they stay locked. “First you teased me and then we barely talked. I couldn’t stand it.”

She nods, stroking a hand over the back of his head as he starts to maneuver them someplace else. “We probably shouldn’t have ignored the elephant in the room.”

“It’s a pretty damn big elephant,” he confirms, pushing them into another doorway. She recognizes it as his bedroom. The last time she was here she’d been comforting him to sleep and doing his laundry, making sure his life didn’t fall to shambles in every way after Rosslyn. Her heart lurches at the idea, remembering how in tune she felt with him then. 

“Never leave me in the dark again,” she’s suddenly saying as he tosses her onto the bed, coming to hover over her. 

Josh shakes his head, fingers finding the bottom of her shirt to tug up. They lift it over her arms, discarding it on the floor somewhere. “I never meant to,” he pants, finding the clasp of her jeans next. “So long as you don’t go flaunting around talking to other men.”

She laughs, her bottoms finding the floor too. “I never expected you to be the jealous type,” she teases, dragging a foot up the length of his calf.

“I’m not,” he argues, fingers slipping between the waistband of her panties and her skin. 

“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?” she doesn’t let up, eyes sparking. He drags her panties down her legs, letting them fall off her feet and pool to the ground. He peers up at her as she keeps going. “Walking up all ‘I’m Josh Lyman’—I’m surprised you didn’t pull out your White House badge—”

Her next words die in her throat as he slides his middle and forefinger between her folds, finding the bump of her clit. A groan emits instead, jaw propping open as he rubs there, right there, soft yet firm. She’s already somewhat wet, making it easy for him to slick her up so he can press harder, let her feel all of it. 

“Josh—” she whines.

“What was that about me being jealous?”

Donna’s throat flutters. Her thighs open wider without her permission. “Don’t distract me,” she shoots back, not half as strong as she was speaking before, hips swiveling with his fingers. 

Josh grins, reaching up with his free hand to grab at the space where her shoulder meets her neck, hooking his thumb to grip above her collarbone and letting his other fingers wrap around at the base of her skull. She gasps at the touch, watching as he brings his forehead to hers.

“Do you know how badly I wanted to call you into my office today?” he murmurs against her mouth, letting them kiss gently between his words. He abandons her clit for a moment to slide a finger into her, another groan tumbling out of her, before he decides to get a second one in. “You felt so far away. I wanted you close.”

“What would you have called me into your office for?” Donna decides to play dumb, wanting to hear him say it. She wants to hear him admit how badly he needed her today, even when feeling it hard to talk to her.

He smirks, fingers finally managing to find the sweet spot deep in her that pulls a breathy noise right out of her chest. Her eyes start to slip closed. “I never pegged you as a dirty girl, wanting to hear about my fantasies.”

“Oh, so I’m one of your fantasies?” she manages out while undulating her hips into his hand, chasing what he’s giving her.

The triumph she feels at his jaw clench settles low in her tummy, helping her orgasm that’s well on it’s way. One of his thighs comes up onto the bed, pushing against her bent-open knee and sliding out, widening her more and helping his fingers go further in, one nail scraping against the spot where it counts most. A broken cry falls from her.

“I don’t think it’s a secret that I’ve thought about bending you over my desk, Donna,” Josh gives, her eyes going darker at the confession. She whines again. “Especially when you wear those fucking pencil skirts. It’s like you mean to torture me.”

Here is when he lets his thumb find her clit again, her back arching with it. “I think you have a thing for secretaries,” she pants, feeling absolutely wanton as he devours the sight of her body rolling for him. 

His head shakes, pressing down harder to grind against her clit, moans coming louder as her eyes squeeze closed. “Just you,” he admits. Her whole form shivers at the words, still in the throes of reaching the edge. “Are you gonna come?”

The filthy question leaves her breathless. All she can do is nod as his fingers gain speed.

In Indiana, he was so soft. Their first time fucking had bordered more on making love—dirty only in the way that they knew they were doing something forbidden, something bordering on a scandal. Here, she can feel his desire for her in every breath, every touch, can practically taste how he wants to fuck her into his mattress, show her who she should have been thinking of all day. 

When her orgasm hits, it’s a slow roll through her abdomen, sparking the tips of her nipples, her legs spasming as her jaw can’t help but prop open to release a guttural groan. Josh grins wide at the sight, at her body tightening just to release, all for him. He winds her down from it, letting his fingers slip out while his thumb just pulls on her clit inconsistently, keeping her where he needs her.

“Josh,” she murmurs, not of her own volition, eyelids flickering.

His mouth moves down to brush over her forehead, dragging down to come across her cheek and over her lips. “Hmm,” he hums, squeezing where his hold is still splayed across her neck and shoulder.

Donna presses forward more urgently to capture his mouth with hers, letting them kiss for real. While he’s taken aback by it she surges up, grabbing at his button down t-shirt and pulling, some of the buttons popping loose. Josh chuckles at her eagerness, helping the deed along by ripping the rest of the material apart, letting it slide down his arms to join their growing pile on the ground.

Soon his pants and underwear join, along with her bra, until they’re both naked as the other. She pushes against his shoulders so he gets the hint, dropping down onto the bed. The smile on her face bruises him. 

Her knees connect with the mattress before her palms follow suit—then she’s crawling her way up toward him, his figure scooting back with her until his spine connects with the headboard. He’s breathless, panting, as she comes in between his legs, hand reaching out to grab hold of his hard dick.

“Fuck,” he hisses, head falling back.

“Hmm,” she hums much like he did moments ago, face warm and content as she pumps his dick idly. Her thumb swipes over the underbase of his mushroom head. He swallows hard.

After what feels like years of her grip not doing much to help him along, just keeping him painfully turned on, does she move upward again onto her knees. 

“Condom?” she questions, feeling her cheeks flush.

He smirks, ever the gentleman. “Bedside drawer.”

She heeds the direction, reaching over his splayed body to grab one. Even the simple act of rolling a condom onto his cock has him thrusting up a bit, her top teeth biting at her bottom lip seeing his reaction. She kisses the head of his dick once more before returning to an upright position.

Josh’s mouth falls agape as she straddles over him, wet pink pussy hovering over his dick. His hands shake as she lines him up with her lips, sliding the head of him through her slick, before settling it where she wants it. Then she’s bouncing down, letting him start to seat inside her. 

“Fuck, _Donna_ ,” he grunts, palms fusing to her hips once she’s speared half of him in her. 

“Did you think about this at all today?” she breathes into his mouth, using his shoulders under her hands to keep her balance. “Us in that hotel room?”

He curses, widening his legs to better hold himself into the bed below him. His grip on her hips helps her swivel a bit, grinding her down onto him before he’s finally balls-deep inside of her. He exhales long and hard once she’s clenching around him fully, her walls like a vice. “Of course I did,” he growls out, letting her start the pace as she slowly moves up, then back down. “All fucking day.”

Donna grins. “I knew I could count on you.”

Josh captures her lips quickly, hot and sweet. “Just shut up and fuck me, Donna.”

She manages out a short laugh before he takes matters into his own hands, pivoting up and into her hard, the giggle being cut off by a moan. They set a brutal rhythm after that, her legs pushing her up and down on his dick while he helps it along from underneath. 

At some point he gets a thumb on her clit again, the other having slid up her front to grab at one of her breasts bouncing near his face. He follows up his grip there with his tongue, laving over one pink nipple before sucking it between his teeth. Donna cries out above him. 

He lets his digit against her clit grind down hard, rocking back and forth against it while soft groans tumble past her open mouth. “Josh…” she squeezes out, unable to really breathe as her abdomen tightens.

“Come on, Donna,” said man mutters, moving back from her chest to look into her face above him. “One more time for me.” His free hand now roams to her ass, delivering a quick, stinging slap that helps them speed up. 

A few thrusts later she slams onto his dick, her pussy clamping down on him. He groans while she releases a wordless moan, head falling forward into his shoulder while her second orgasm works through her. Josh mouths along the skin of her neck, their sweat dragging together. When he feels her go fully soft on him, he wraps his arms around her frame and rises quickly, pushing up with his knees to get her on her back while still sheathed inside of her. She gives a noise of surprise but just smiles.

“Impressive.”

“I have moves,” he winks. 

One hand props next to her head while the other returns to its place at her throat like before. She takes the invitation to circle her legs around his torso, changing the angle so the top of his dick nudges toward the end of her channel. They both groan.

He begins a slower, more bruising pace that makes her whine each time he thrusts in. Like this, he catches along the spongy bunch of nerves at the top of her pussy with each move, making her eyes practically roll back. It’s when he notices the zoned-out look on her face that he picks up speed, dipping his hips quickly to keep hitting the same spot.

“Josh, I can’t—”

“Can’t what?”

“Can’t,” she pants, chest moving up and down. She watches as a bead of sweat rolls down his temple. “Can’t come again.”

“I think you can.”

“No, I—” she shudders, head shaking slightly. Her walls start to squeeze down on him, his jaw dropping, not of his own accord. “I want you to come. Come in me. Please.”

He slams into her, unforgiving, as the words leave her mouth. “Donna—”

“ _Josh_ ,” she mewls, back arching and head throwing back. He groans at the sight just as his body replies in kind. He comes watching her pink tongue lick at the seam of her lips, blue eyes fluttering as she tries to catch her breath.

Once he’s slowed to a halt and relaxes the tight grip he’d endured on her collarbone, does he start to pull out slowly. She whines a little bit at the feeling, her legs still trying to crowd him up against her. He chuckles but uncages himself from her grip, sitting back to dispose of the condom. 

“For the record,” Donna says, deciding it’s now or never to bring this up, amidst trying to still catch her breath, “don’t ever come up to a conversation I’m having with a man and act like I’m cattle you need to brand. A little trust goes a long way.”

Josh has the gall to look sheepish. “Not my finest moment.”

She peeps an eye open to look at him, chest warming at the sight of him sated and happy. Her hand reaches out to find his knee, rubbing at the skin there. “Definitely not,” she agrees. “But to be fair I did have half a mind to barge in on you and Amy. Yet, unlike you, I have self control.”

“Speaking of, I knew what you were doing.”

A brow pops up on her forehead. “What do you mean?”

“You did your little— _performance_ ,” he exasperates, flinging a hand over the bed to accentuate his meaning, “to get me to come. I could’ve gotten you there a third time.”

She laughs. “You’re upset I only orgasmed twice?”

“Well, no, I mean—” he huffs, scrubbing a hand through his hair. “I’m very much open to putting in a little work.”

At his words she sobers, sitting up a bit so they’re on the same playing field. He notices the shift in atmosphere, jaw clenching a bit as she moves her hand off his leg. She pretends to ignore the way his eyes follow the motion. “Now it’s my turn to say ‘speaking of’,” she remarks with slight humor, but doesn’t let it completely soak her words.

“Yeah?” Josh asks softly.

Donna runs a hand back through her hair, suddenly desperately wanting a shower. “Are we ready to do what’s hard?” she murmurs, looking up at him through her lashes. Her voice feels small. “I’m, uh, I’m willing to put in the work.”

His fingers come up and grasp at her chin, running over the cut of it to dance along her jaw. Her heart stops beating as he gazes into her, yet through her at the same time. 

“Sorry it took me so long to get here,” he’s saying and she doesn’t know why, but it closes up her throat. She can feel her whole body soften for him. “It might be harder for me then it is for you sometimes. I apologize in advance.” His small smile has her nerve endings sizzling. 

Donna bends forward to give him a light kiss. “I’ve been keeping your ass in line for longer than we’ve been having sex. Sounds like nothing new to me.”

Josh grabs at her waist for that, bringing her down onto his sweaty, cooling off body, and she’s laughing. By god, is she laughing.

-

_like a wall falls in the night  
but the rhythm’s just out of time_

-

When coming into the bullpen, Donna immediately notices her boss leaning against the file cabinet next to her desk. He’s drinking another cup of coffee while skimming over some papers in front of him. Practically a carbon copy of her morning yesterday, the crackling political energy around him like a golden aura.

The only difference this time being the weight lifted off her shoulders and the dazzling dimple-filled smile Josh sends her when she walks into her space.

“Good morning,” she murmurs, feeling secretive.

“Good morning,” he returns, folding the papers and tucking it under his arm. “Did you sleep well?”

Donna nods. “You?”

His eyes meet hers, dark and full. “Absolutely.”

They woke up to a lazy fucking this morning, the alarm having gone off an hour early so she could make it home in time to change and ready herself for the day. But unfortunately they didn’t realize just _how_ lazy they were being and she had to book it out of his apartment, his dick having been in her not even seconds prior to her getting in the cab downstairs. He hadn’t been able to get her to finish before she had to slap his hands away in order to leave when she should have. 

She blushes thinking about it.

He comes closer, clearing his throat and taking a quick glance around before ducking his head near hers. A casual touch against her lower back startles her, not negatively. “That’s what,” he muses, a lilt to his voice, “two orgasms you now owe me?”

Her head whips around to meet his stare, mouth slightly agape, before he just grins and saunters away, brushing his fingers along the curve of her waist as he goes. She doesn’t dare watch him as he goes into his office, not wanting to give him the satisfaction. 

If you had told Donna what she _should_ have expected when returning to the White House from her day-long adventure, she would’ve doubted anything that’s happened in the past twenty-four hours. It all seems like a folly.

However, now that they’re here, she can’t wait to see where they go.

-

_there’s a reason you’re by my side  
again_


End file.
